Hyde School, Bath, Maine, Admissions

[Anonymous]

Would anyone be willing to share admissions interview experiences at Hyde? In my interview,  the approach was to break me down, try to make me cry, show me how weak I was and then tell me how I needed Hyde to build me back up.

I would like to know other people who went to Hyde or sent their children to Hyde feel about their interviews.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-03-16 04:32:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Would anyone be willing to share admissions interview experiences at Hyde? In my interview,  the approach was to break me down, try to make me cry, show me how weak I was and then tell me how I needed Hyde to build me back up.



I would like to know other people who went to Hyde or sent their children to Hyde feel about their interviews."

Wow, I can't believe your experience was exactly like ours.  The interviewer pushed and pushed my daughter and kept pushing, till she could get her to cry.  Looking back now I see how cruel it was and how this did absolutely no good, but at the time they make you feel like there is something much more wrong with your family then there is so you kind of fall into the trap.  In our case our daughter was not a truant, drug addict, or out of control in anyway.  She simply needed to feel good about herself so she would be more motivated.  I feel so ashamed now that I put her in a place that did the exact opposite.  She should have been built up, not put down like she was.  She was made to feel even worse about herself then before she enrolled.

Thanks for bringing this up. Makes me feel a little better that we were not the only ones to have fallen for Hyde's abusive tactics.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-03-16 04:32:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Would anyone be willing to share admissions interview experiences at Hyde? In my interview,  the approach was to break me down, try to make me cry, show me how weak I was and then tell me how I needed Hyde to build me back up.



I would like to know other people who went to Hyde or sent their children to Hyde feel about their interviews."

Gee, until you asked I hadn't thought about our interview for years.  It was quite an experience, especially for my wife.  Frankly, she was far more perceptive about Hyde than I was.  I'm embarrassed to say that I was seduced by the Hyde rhetoric and slick PR.  The person who interviewed us fed us the now familiar Hyde lingo, but at the time I didn't know enough to realize that it was the Hyde script that everyone there uses.  My wife smelled a rat immediately, but went along with my wish to enroll our kid.  I have to admit that my wife's assessment of Hyde was right on the money; unfortunately it took me several months to realize she was right about the Hyde pollution.  In the admissions interview the guy we met with (who, it turns out, has zero background as an educator and was a business man and father of a Hyde kid) was patronizing, provocative, and preachy.  He went after my wife very aggressively and lectured her about how she was enabling our kid's behavior.  Just thinking about how incompetent that man was, and how judgmental he was, makes my blood boil.  Only later did I realize that he was like a Joe Gauld twin.  Well, I've learned my lesson.  Hyde has taught me a lot -- especially about what to avoid in a school.  Anyone who interviews with Hyde should insist on talking to randomly selected students, not the ones the school picks.  They should sit in on a seminar to see how some of the staff (mis)treat parents and students.  People need to know what they're in for before signing on.  I sure wish I had known.

[Anonymous]

When I interviewed the two guys that had me had to take a break beacuse I got to one of them.  They had to bring in a replacement. I ended the interview dry eyed. I told them to fuck off and hitch hiked down route one to Boston. I ended up spending one of the greatest summers and a couple of the most challenging years of my life at hyde. I would not trade them for all the tea in china.

[Anonymous]

Why does a school like Hyde continue to exist? How is it able to  keep attracting new students? And getting new people to buy into the concept?

What happened in that admissions interview that hooked us all on Hyde, for better or for worse?

[Anonymous]

On 2006-04-05 14:50:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Why does a school like Hyde continue to exist? How is it able to  keep attracting new students? And getting new people to buy into the concept?



What happened in that admissions interview that hooked us all on Hyde, for better or for worse?







"

Hyde exists because we imagine it does.  We almost imagined it out of existance at one point but then it was imagined back into existance. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratitya-samutpada

Or more simply:
Row row row your boat (dory?)
gently down the stream
Merrily merrily merrily
Life is but a dream

"What happened in that admissions interview that hooked us"

For me it was the judge that said he would issue a bench warrant for my arrest if I did not show up for the first day of summer school.

I imagine you are finding my scribbing amusing.

[Anonymous]

On 2006-04-05 16:10:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-04-05 14:50:00, Anonymous wrote:


"Why does a school like Hyde continue to exist? How is it able to  keep attracting new students? And getting new people to buy into the concept?





What happened in that admissions interview that hooked us all on Hyde, for better or for worse?











"

Hyde exists because we imagine it does.  We almost imagined it out of existance at one point but then it was imagined back into existance. See:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratitya-samutpada



Or more simply:

Row row row your boat (dory?)

gently down the stream

Merrily merrily merrily

Life is but a dream



"What happened in that admissions interview that hooked us"



For me it was the judge that said he would issue a bench warrant for my arrest if I did not show up for the first day of summer school.



I imagine you are finding my scribbing amusing.



"

At the risk of belaboring my point please allow me to add:

http://arts.ucsc.edu/Gdead/AGDL/stella.html#dream

and

http://arts.ucsc.edu/Gdead/AGDL/box.html#dream

[Anonymous]

On 2006-04-05 14:50:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Why does a school like Hyde continue to exist? How is it able to  keep attracting new students? And getting new people to buy into the concept?



What happened in that admissions interview that hooked us all on Hyde, for better or for worse?







"

This is a very simple answer.  Hyde "hooks us" because we are desperate parents at the time.  Years later after buying into the process, participating to the best of our abilities and going through "the process" we realize how foolish we were.  I can't speak for others, but this is how my family feels.  We have apologized to our daughter and talked to other former Hyde parents about how stupid we were to buy into this Cult and send her there.  

I know that some people on this board will dispute what I have said and tell me we couldn't hack it, but that is their perogative. I am happy for anyone who got something out of Hyde. I am not disputing any positives that anyone posts on this board, I am simply telling you about my experience as well as my wife and daughters.  To us Hyde is a disgusting Cult and we feel ashamed that we fell for their crap! I thought we were strong people but obviously I was wrong about this because I allowed Hyde to make us feel weak and vunerable!  It is like going to a bad Psychologist who tries to make you believe you had a worse childhood than you did.  They will try to keep you in therapy for years, Hyde tries to keep you on campus for years even though your child might intellectually be ready to proceed to the next grade level.  I think there are people who will love Hyde.  These are the same people who love the Scientologists and the Hari Krishna's! Strictly my opinion for whatever it is worth!

[Anonymous]

Joe was called into my interview at the end to close the deal, probably before heading out to the golf course. Funny, but I really remember his loafers. They had a kind of grainy texture and a shade of brown leather that was unusual in my experience.  I stared at the loafers to avoid eye contact.

One other specific recollection I have is being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. When I said I wanted to own a small business, the interviewer belittled me, b/c that goal was not lofty enough.  I still recall how humiliated I felt.

[StephenLong]

On 2006-04-05 19:52:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-04-05 14:50:00, Anonymous wrote:


"Why does a school like Hyde continue to exist? How is it able to  keep attracting new students? And getting new people to buy into the concept?





What happened in that admissions interview that hooked us all on Hyde, for better or for worse?











"

This is a very simple answer.  Hyde "hooks us" because we are desperate parents at the time.  Years later after buying into the process, participating to the best of our abilities and going through "the process" we realize how foolish we were.  I can't speak for others, but this is how my family feels.  We have apologized to our daughter and talked to other former Hyde parents about how stupid we were to buy into this Cult and send her there.  



I know that some people on this board will dispute what I have said and tell me we couldn't hack it, but that is their perogative. I am happy for anyone who got something out of Hyde. I am not disputing any positives that anyone posts on this board, I am simply telling you about my experience as well as my wife and daughters.  To us Hyde is a disgusting Cult and we feel ashamed that we fell for their crap! I thought we were strong people but obviously I was wrong about this because I allowed Hyde to make us feel weak and vunerable!  It is like going to a bad Psychologist who tries to make you believe you had a worse childhood than you did.  They will try to keep you in therapy for years, Hyde tries to keep you on campus for years even though your child might intellectually be ready to proceed to the next grade level.  I think there are people who will love Hyde.  These are the same people who love the Scientologists and the Hari Krishna's! Strictly my opinion for whatever it is worth!"

Your Opinion has no value,  because you are not willing to sign it and worse yet you hide behind anonymity.  Step up if you really believe what you say.

Stephen Long

[Anonymous]

Hyde incorporates AA practices and principles in many ways. Anonymity is a cornerstone of AA. Why, then, is it so unacceptable to you, Stephen Long and others, to practice anonymity in this forum about Hyde?

[Anonymous]

On 2006-04-05 19:52:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2006-04-05 14:50:00, Anonymous wrote:


"Why does a school like Hyde continue to exist? How is it able to  keep attracting new students? And getting new people to buy into the concept?





What happened in that admissions interview that hooked us all on Hyde, for better or for worse?











"

This is a very simple answer.  Hyde "hooks us" because we are desperate parents at the time.  Years later after buying into the process, participating to the best of our abilities and going through "the process" we realize how foolish we were.  I can't speak for others, but this is how my family feels.  We have apologized to our daughter and talked to other former Hyde parents about how stupid we were to buy into this Cult and send her there.  



I know that some people on this board will dispute what I have said and tell me we couldn't hack it, but that is their perogative. I am happy for anyone who got something out of Hyde. I am not disputing any positives that anyone posts on this board, I am simply telling you about my experience as well as my wife and daughters.  To us Hyde is a disgusting Cult and we feel ashamed that we fell for their crap! I thought we were strong people but obviously I was wrong about this because I allowed Hyde to make us feel weak and vunerable!  It is like going to a bad Psychologist who tries to make you believe you had a worse childhood than you did.  They will try to keep you in therapy for years, Hyde tries to keep you on campus for years even though your child might intellectually be ready to proceed to the next grade level.  I think there are people who will love Hyde.  These are the same people who love the Scientologists and the Hari Krishna's! Strictly my opinion for whatever it is worth!"

Scientology is the answer.  


Tom Cruise

[Anonymous]

"To make statements such as I am reading here on this message board, and not be willing to say who you are is cowardly."

Have you ever offered an opinion on a subject without attribution?  If so, was your action therefore "cowardly?"  

Have you ever offered an opinion on a subject _with_ attribution and concluded later that it was perhaps imprudent or even foolhardy for you to offer an attributed opinion in that situation? If so, would you have been "cowardly" to have offered the opinion without attribution?

"State your name and your history at or with the school so people can judge your statements and evaluate the accuracy of those statements based upon the writers' prejudices."

If we're going to follow this procedure, don't we need to place our hands on the Bible first? Also, please remind me: when you were appointed bailiff of this blog, and who appointed you?

"Once again I see a number of people (or could it just be one person having a conversation with him or herself?) whining and making outrageous statements without identifying themselves."

This is, indeed, a common attribute of the Internet in general, and blogs/listservs/message boards in particular.  Is the Internet inherently "cowardly?" If so, when are you and all the other persons of courage and integrity going to finally shut it down, once and for all?

"How can anyone take any of you seriously when none of you are willing to back up your statements, innuendoes, and accusations by stating your name?"

Do you think that anyone thinks that you would take them seriously if they did?

"I am saddened by the lack of integrity maybe that's why you all probably washed out."

Are you really "saddened," or are you actually delighted to have someone to look down upon?

"Your Opinion has no value, because you are not willing to sign it and worse yet you hide behind anonymity."

Are we getting graded on this?

Does "character" mean bossing other people around, calling other people names, dismissing other peoples' opinions out of hand, and exhibiting a general inability to tolerate other viewpoints? If so, then count me out.

[Anonymous]

Bravo, Bravo!!

[Anonymous]

Does anyone beside me find it odd that there are a bunch of adults that want to speak about the place they went to high school but wish to remain anonymous when doing so?  I think speaks at least as much about the place as it does about the character of the speakers.
Don't get me rong.  I like hyde.  It was a great thing for me. I find as I read stuff on this board I agree with those that are both pro and con, but I am really reluctant to put my name on anything.

Sue Doenym